Away Mission
by T'eyla
Summary: Will Trip ever understand that Vulcan? COMPLETE
1. Default Chapter

AN: I've already posted this in German and now finally got the translation done. I made some changes, too, so it'll agree with the episodes, but it still might disagree with anything after Two Days & Two Nights (that's the last one I saw). I hope you like it (if you do please leave a review).  
  
Disclaimer: Star Trek belongs to Paramount, not to me. If it did, Germany wouldn't still be waiting for the end of season 1.  
  
Away Mission  
  
by T'eyla  
  
If T'Pol had been human she would have enjoyed the trip. But as it was she just felt a general contentment at watching the blurs of the blue and green nebula through the shuttlepod's window. In spite of what most humans thought Vulcans *did* appreciate natural aesthetic, even if they didn't react as effusive as some other species. At the shuttlepod's destinantion T'pol would have the possibility to study a phenomenon that she had only once encountered before: micro singularities. Because of their rareness and the high danger related to a closer investigation nobody really knew much about these phenomenons, and up until a short time ago, they had only been a scientific theory. She would be the first scientist to see and study one first-hand. That even increased her contentment.  
  
She looked at the shuttlepod's other occupant. The Captain had assigned Commander Tucker to fly the shuttlepod and bring her near enough to the singularities so she could conduct the neccessary scans. T'Pol had no objections to the Captain's choice, in fact she was rather relieved that Archer hadn't let Mayweather pilot the shuttlepod. Although she respected the Ensign as a competent pilot he always displayed a certain...eagerness that T'Pol found slightly unnerving. She preferred conducting her scans without interruptions, and although the Commander usually was pretty talkative as well, he had seldom tried to chat with her or involve her into 'small talk' as the humans called it. And since there was nobody else on the shuttlepod and she certainly did not intend to start a conversation he had been quiet since they had left Enterprise. T'Pol would not object if it stayed that way.  
  
But watching the chief engineer now, she noticed that he showed signs that she had learned to interpret as nervousness when displayed by humans. She frowned.  
  
"Is there a problem, Commander?"  
  
Startled, he looked up. "'scuse me?"  
  
"I asked if there is a problem. You seem...nervous."  
  
Tucker raised his eyebrows, then smiled slightly. "Well, my last encounter with micro singularities didn't go that well, Subcommander. I'm just a little...queasy."  
  
"There is no need to be concerned. The hull plating of the shuttlepod has been reinforced. Since you worked on the improvement yourself, you should know that the micro singularities are no danger for us."  
  
"Yeah, you're right. I'm okay, really."  
  
He flashed a smile at her. T'Pol wasn't convinced. She raised an eyebrow.  
  
"You still seem like something is causing you discomfort. Is there a problem concerning our mission?"  
  
Tucker didn't answer. T'Pol raised her other eyebrow.  
  
"Commander, if there is a problem that endangers our mission you are obliged to tell me so since right now I am your commanding officer."  
  
Tucker turned his seat around to look at her.  
  
"Yes Subcommander, I know I'd have to tell you. But the mission is not endangered. The reasons for my discomfort are...private."  
  
"Oh." T'Pol blinked. "I apologize."  
  
"It's okay." He turned back to his instruments.  
  
T'Pol was slightly embarrassed. She hoped that she hadn't offended Tucker with her questions. She had not intended to intrude Tucker's private affairs, her only concern had been the current mission. She considered explaining that to the Commander but decided against it. Sometimes humans preferred to let awkward situations pass by without talking about them. If she now tried to explain her actions she might embarrass the Commander even further. So, holding back a sigh, she turned and continued to watch the churning and blurring of the nebula.  
  
-###-  
  
Usually Trip liked being a friend of Jonathan Archer. Jon was reliable, he was funny, he was easy to talk to. And if you didn't want to talk about something, he left you alone. Well, mostly. But *this* business had been plagueing Trip too hard and for too long for Archer not to get curious. So, during one of the late-night-mess-hall-talks with the Captain, Tucker had caved in. He had finally faced the facts and told his friend that his feelings about T'Pol weren't only those of a casual liking but something more. Mistake, mistake. Jon hadn't only not been much of a help but had also begun to assign him tasks where he had to work with T'Pol. This way, naturally, the whole ship had noticed that he found T'Pol...interesting. Everybody exept T'Pol, of course. And that was the reason why he was sitting in a shuttlepod with a huffy Vulcan and feeling like the greatest fool in the whole sector. He didn't know what he had said to offend her, but since the short conversation of about half an hour ago she hadn't said one word. Before she had at least cleared her throat from time to time but afterwards she had only been sitting ram-rod straight in her chair and had stared into the nebula as if she was expecting an attack of the Suliban. Or the Klingons. Or both. Trip sighed.  
  
"How much more time do you think you'll need, Subcommander?"  
  
She looked up from her scanners.  
  
"I have to conduct one final scan. That will take about 5.4 minutes." she answered.  
  
"I'll contact Enterprise and tell them we'll be returning in a minute."  
  
"5.4 minutes." she corrected him stiffly. Trip rolled his eyes.  
  
-###-  
  
"Hi Hoshi. May I join you?"  
  
The Ensign looked up and smiled.  
  
"Sure, Commander, take a seat."  
  
Tucker set down his tray and sat down on the offered chair.  
  
"Lot of work, huh?" he asked, glancing at several padds laying next to Hoshi's tray.  
  
"Oh, not really," she said, "that's something I'm doing for a friend. No, communications doesn't have much to do here in the middle of empty space. I assume that's different with engineering, with all the ion storms and anomalies around here?"  
  
"It's not so bad. I still have time to play chauffeur for T'Pol." Trip said dryly.  
  
"Didn't you enjoy getting away from your dayly routine? At times like this when we do nothing but hanging in space and looking at a nebula for days I'm grateful for every diversion."  
  
"Yeah, sure...Hoshi, you were on Vulcan once, weren't you?"  
  
Surprised by the sudden change of subject it took Hoshi a moment to answer.  
  
"Yes, I lived there for about half a year to improve my Vulcan. Why do you ask?"  
  
"And during your stay there you surely learned something about Vulcan behaviour, didn't you?"  
  
"Well, you can hardly avoid that if you're living there for half a year." Hoshi smiled a little confused and looked at Trip who was pushing his food around his plate.  
  
"Well...I've got a problem," he said and gave Hoshi a short glance.  
  
'Well, finally,' she thought. Aloud she said: "Really? What is it?"  
  
"Is it possibe to insult a Vulcan without having the slightest clue what you've done?"  
  
"Umm..." That wasn't what she had expected. "That's possible with everybody, isn't it? It always depends on what was said. Why, what did you say to Subcommander T'Pol?" She smiled slightly at the chief engineer's surprised look. Tucker shook his head.  
  
"Okay," he said grinning, "let's talk straight." He cleared his throat and told Hoshi about the conversation with T'Pol in the shuttlepod. When he was done Hoshi smiled at her superior.  
  
"Well, seems like it wasn't you who insulted the Subcommander but T'Pol who insulted you."  
  
"What?" Tucker frowned, confused. "How'd she have done that?"  
  
"Not from a human point of view. Humans would interpret her behaviour as a little brusque but not insulting. But a Vulcan would see her questions as a violation of his privacy."  
  
"Private sphere? But she didn't ask anything personal."  
  
"Well, for Vulcans politeness and discretion are very important. You keep out of other people's business." Hoshi finished her meal and pushed her empty plate aside.  
  
"Yes, I know that." Tucker said. "But like I said, she didn't ask anything personal. As soon as I told her it was private and the mission wasn't in danger, she stopped. She did keep out of my business."  
  
"You see it that way and every other human would probably agree with you. But when you pointed out that what she was asking about was private, she as a Vulcan interpreted that as a reprimand, something like 'Keep out of this, it's none of your business'."  
  
Trip raised his eyebrows.  
  
"So what I said was impolite? Then I *did* offend her, didn't I?"  
  
"No no," Hoshi shook her head. "It's a little complicated, I know, it took me some time to figure it out, too. You know, T'Pol didn't even have a right to ask that question."  
  
Tucker opened his mouth, then closed it again. He looked so confused that Hoshi had to laugh.  
  
"It's not funny!" Tucker said desperately. "I really got a problem here!"  
  
"No, I know it's not funny. Sorry." Hoshi said and after some more giggling got herself under control again. "Okay, there are three situations where T'Pol might ask a Vulcan something like that.  
  
First reason: she thinks the other person's nervousness is caused by a problem concerning the mission but he doesn't tell her because he thinks he can handle it himself. If she now asks if there's a problem she would be questioning his judgment, meaning she insults him.  
  
Second reason: she thinks the other doesn't tell her because he doesn't want to upset her. Well, this normally wouldn't happen among Vulcans because Vulcans don't get upset. But if T'Pol assumes the other thinks that she offends him by implying that he's thinking illogical. I mean, even *we* know that T'Pol is very well able to react logical in threatening situations.  
  
Third reason: she doesn't think the other's nervousness is caused by a problem with the mission but has personal reasons. In this case she would ask the question to bring the other person to tell her that personal business. She offends the other one by lying and invading his privacy.  
  
T'Pol asked you out of the second reason. That's not an offence in this case because you're human and it's not guaranteed that you react logical to threatening situations. But when you told her that your discomfort has personal reasons she thought you believed that she asked you because of the third reason - to make you tell her somethink that's absolutely not her business."  
  
Trip who's eyes had widened considerably during Hoshi's lecture opened his mouth but said nothing. He blinked a few times, then shook his head and laughed.  
  
"How many Vulcans did you piss off until you figured that out?"  
  
Hoshi laughed. "You know, on that subject Vulcans are pretty patient with humans. The first two months I've been there I was probably running around offending everyone I met, but I realized it only half of the times. Usually Vulcans just ignore this human impoliteness and move on to the next subject."  
  
"Good thing to know." Trip said and chuckled. "I can't believe it, T'Pol insulted me and I didn't even notice."  
  
Hoshi smiled, then she raised her eyebrows and threw Tucker a glance.  
  
"Well, Commander, now I want to ask *you* something."  
  
"Sure, go ahead."  
  
"What *was* the reason for your nervousness?"  
  
"What? Oh...ahem..." Tucker looked to the chronometer on the wall. "Oh my God, already that late. Excuse me, I got to get down to engineering. Another time maybe." He flashed a quick smile and fled from the mess hall.  
  
-###-  
  
T'Pol was about to evaluate the last few scans from the away mission when she heard the other bridge officers get up. End of shift. She sat up and looked around for the Captain. Archer had just finished a log entry and was about to leave the bridge. She hesitated, not sure if what she was about to do was the right thing, but then she got up too and followed Archer into the turbolift. The doors swished shut.  
  
"Subcommander," he said in a way of greeting. "Do you want to join me for lunch?"  
  
"Thank you, sir, but I usually do not have lunch." T'Pol answered.  
  
"Oh. Okay. So you're on your way to your quarters?"  
  
"Indeed, sir. But if you have got a few minutes, I have a question."  
  
"Sure, what is it?"  
  
T'Pol raised an eyebrow. "I got the impression that Commander Tucker avoids me since we came back from the away mission yesterday. It is possible that I know the reason..."  
  
Archer chuckled. T'Pol gave him an irritated look but continued without interuption.  
  
"...but I am not sure if humans follow the same etiquettes like Vulcans in a situation like this."  
  
"Well...what situation are you talking about exactly?" Archer asked and thought: 'I knew it, sooner or later I'd be the one who has to explain it to her.'  
  
"During the flight to the singularity I got the impression that Commander Tucker displayed the human symptoms of discomfort. I assumed that it was caused by a problem concerning our mission, but when I asked him he did not give a satisfying explanation. So I reminded him that he is obliged to tell his superior officer any problems that might occur upon which he informed me that his discomfort had personal reasons. Among Vulcans that would mean he took my question as an offence since it violated his privacy. Would that be the case among humans, too?"  
  
Archer looked at T'Pol thoughtfully.  
  
"Well...no, not really. You came across a subject that belongs to Trip's private matters - as far as I understood it that would be the reason why a Vulcan would understand the question as an offence, would it?"  
  
"That is correct."  
  
"You know, usually humans aren't that touchy about their private sphere. You asked out of concern about your mission, and you stopped after his remark. If you would've asked further he might have taken offence, or rather it might have embarrassed him. But in this case there's no real reason for him to be offended."  
  
The turbolift halted with a start and the doors slid open. Archer headed down the hallway towards the mess hall. T'Pol followed him. After a short stretch of silence she turned to him once again.  
  
"What would have been the typical human reaction in this situation?" she asked.  
  
The Captain considered.  
  
"Well, that depends. If it were someone who doesn't know Trip too well he probably wouldn't have asked any further. But if it were a friend he maybe would have tried to find out what's bothering Trip." T'Pol raised an eyebrow.  
  
"How?"  
  
"By asking questions like 'Are you sure you're alright?' or 'What's the matter, Trip?' or something like that."  
  
"Even though Commander Tucker did not ask for a private conversation? Would that not have been very impolite?"  
  
"In a case like this, it's not customary for humans to ask for a personal conversation. It's the job of your friends to find out if something's bothering you and maybe offer you to talk about it."  
  
"Does that not make the matter even more complicated?"  
  
Archer laughed. "It must seem like that to an outsider. But you can't imagine how complicated that Vulcan privacy-thing seems to be from a human point of view."  
  
They had arrived in front of the doors to the mess hall.  
  
"You really don't want to join me for lunch? I'm sure there's something vegetarian, too."  
  
"No, I am not used to eating anything during the day. Thank you for taking the time to explain that matter to me."  
  
"Anytime," Archer answered smiling and looked after his Vulcan first officer as she walked down the hallway back towards the turbolift.  
  
-###-  
  
On her way to her quarters T'Pol thought about the things the Captain had told her. She found it hard to believe that among humans invading a person's privacy should belong to the duties of friendship. After the time she had spent on Enterprise she had assumed that she now understood at least the basics of human behaviour, but she had to admit that she still knew nearly nothing about that species. Before she had come onto Enterprise she had thought of humans as an interesting but still very immature species. In her opinion the development of warp technology had come way too early for them. She had absolutely agreed with the Vulcan Science Directory's opinion that they were not ready yet for an encounter with other alien races. But during Enterprise's first mission when the humans had decided to personally bring Klan home she quickly began to doubt her negative attitude. Although she still was convinced that humans reacted too impulsively and that they should at least try to control their emotions, she had discovered the many facettes of the human race: the ability to show discipline if there was need, the urge to preserve life no matter what kind and the readiness to offer help to everyone who needed it. So, when she had taken over command after Captain Archer had been hurt on Rigel X she had decided to give these humans a chance to make good. She had been convinced that even if they succeded they would have to pay a high price, but she did not want the mission to fail because of Vulcan influence. If the humans back on earth saw that their own people just weren't ready yet to conquere space on their own maybe they would be less hostile and finally accept the offered help. Then they could grow and mature to be the interesting and complex species they promised to be without being wiped out by enemies they had made during their attempt to conquere space too early.  
  
But to her surprise Enterprise had succeded in fulfilling her first mission without any losses, and when Captain Archer had offered her the position of the science officer she had surprised herself by accepting. So she accompanied the humans on their first expedition through space, and during her time on Enterprise her respect for them had only increased. She found that humans could indeed be very diverting company, and even if their codes of conduct were very un-Vulcan-like T'Pol had been able to adjust and avoid offending her human collegues most of the time. But on yesterday's mission she obviously *had* insulted Tucker in some way since he was clearly avoiding her. She decided to do something about that as soon as there was an opportunity.  
  
-###-  
  
Trip gave his door an exasperated glare and took a deep breath. He was pissed. And what increased his bad mood was that there was nothing he could be pissed about except himself. First, he had forgotten the time while chatting with Hoshi and had to hurry so he could change for duty and still be on time for the beginning of his shift. But that was out of question now anyway. When he had left his quarters his door had refused to close and now everybody who passed by on the hallway had a nice view of his not-all-too-tidy quarters. And although he was poking around in the tangled wires behind the door panel for about five minutes already, he wasn't able to find the malfunction. He just couldn't concentrate. Every few seconds his thoughts turned back to what Hoshi had told him. He sighed and stared at the panel he had taken off and leaned against the wall. He gave it a kick and it tilted over, hitting his toes. Swearing loudly he took a quick step backwards and the panel slid off his boots.  
  
'Idiot.' he thought. Suddenly a voice spoke up behind him.  
  
"Did you hurt yourself, Commander?"  
  
He turned around, startled, and saw T'Pol standing a few feet away from him in front of the door to her quarters. He cleared his throat.  
  
"No, not at all. The panel fell over, that's all." he said and forced a smile. T'Pol nodded and examined the open circuits.  
  
"May I ask what you are doing, Commander?" she asked raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Umm...I'm just trying to get the door to close. It stayed open when I left my quarters."  
  
T'Pol looked at the door that had stopped at about two thirds of the way. She looked up and down the door frame. Suddenly she bent down and picked up a small object that was laying in the door's slide guide. Then she took a step backwards and the door swished shut.  
  
"It seems I have identified the problem," she said letting the small object fall into Tucker's palm.  
  
"Ahem, yes." Trip answered and felt his ears grow hot. "Thank you."  
  
"You are welcome," she said and Trip turned to go.  
  
"Commander."  
  
"Yes?" He stopped reluctantly. The only thing he wanted to do now was go to engineering and keep out of the way of everybody - especially Vulcans. He looked back at T'Pol.  
  
"I want to apologize for my behaviour on the away mission yesterday. I had no intention of invading your privacy or of offending you in any other way. My only concern was the mission."  
  
Trip blinked in surprise.  
  
"Ah...sure, I mean, you didn't offend me," he said and blushed. "I didn't mean to...reprimand you when I said that about personal business. I just wanted to assure you that the mission wasn't endangered."  
  
"I understand." T'Pol paused, a thoughtful expression on her face. "A few minutes ago, I had a conversation with the Captain where he told me that among humans it is customary for friends to inquire about possible problems if they observe signs of discomfort on a person. Is that the case in this situation?"  
  
Tucker was at a loss for a second, then he cleared his throat and said: "Well...basically that *would* probably be such a situation but I don't think you'd get many answers if you asked."  
  
T'Pol looked at him for a second and he thought he could see something in her eyes that he would have interpreted as disappointment if the woman standing in front of him had been human. Then she nodded.  
  
"Very well, Commander. In this case I won't keep you from performing your duties any longer."  
  
She turned around and disappeared into her quarters. 


	2. Author's Note

AN:  
  
I got reviews telling me I should write more. Actually this was meant to be the whole story, I didn't plan on continuing it, and so I don't have any ideas for a sequel now. If you're interested in another T/T-fic I've written you might want to check on "Family Affairs" which I wrote together with a co-author (Sita). 


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